The Carroll County Board of Supervisors learned they had more money than they were expecting to make infrastructure improvements.
The county received its first installment of the internet tax use bill. During the special session of 2019, Senate Bill 2002 was passed which diverted internet sales tax money to be used for county roads and bridges. The county’s first installment was $89,000 to be split between all five supervisors, meaning supervisors received close to $18,000 to be used to maintain roads and bridges.
Tony Green of North Central Planning and Development District told Supervisors they have to use the money or whatever they don’t use will be deducted from their next installment next year. However, Green said he didn’t know whether next year meant the next calendar year or the next fiscal year, which begins July 1 in the state.
“I talked to [an official in Yalobusha County], and he said it was to maintain roads and bridges, I’m not sure how it’s meant,” Green said. “I think they’re still working through the language of it.”
Green said the roads have to be existing and can’t be a road that’s newly-constructed.
“But, if you have to reconstruct a road, wouldn’t that count as repair? Because some of our roads are going to need reconstructing to repair them,” Board President Rickie Corley said.
“Especially those gravel roads,” Supervisor Jim Neill added.
“You have to use it every year or you have a chance of losing it,” Green said. “The money is to assist in paying to maintain, repair and reconstruct roads, streets and bridges. Once you get it in, you need to spend it.”
“So, do not sit on it,” Corley said.
“Yes, don’t sit on it. Some counties issue debt to pay for things, but the money only pays for the principle and not for the interest. But, that doesn’t apply to [Carroll County]. But, this is a really good deal,” Green said.
“Just think if they’re done this several years ago,” Corley said. “When we were struggling to pay for the roads and bridges.”
Green said the board needed to approve to set up a new fund for the money and split it into five different departments.
Chancery Clerk Casey Carpenter said Marlee Golden and Rogan Jackson want to map it where it’s a paper trail to make it easier to track.
Green said it was a good idea. “So, let’s say you got $20,000 and you spent $10,000. It shows how you spent the $10,000 of the $20,000.”
Also, the county heard from Tax Assessor Wilton Neal and Surveyor Mike Sanders about the Solar Edge development, and they expressed a little concern about the numbers.
“I’m gone tell you. I was not happy that a big mistake was made with the numbers, and it took county officials to catch it,” Supervisor Claude Fluker said. “Now, that just burned my crow.”
“They didn’t come to us for the numbers. They didn’t contact us,” Tax Assessor Wilton Neal said. “They went to the Department of Revenue for the numbers, and they thought they knew how to calculate it and they didn’t.”
When representatives with Renewable Energy Solutions came to meet with the Carroll County Supervisors, they originally said the county would see $54,000 for the first 10 years and the numbers didn’t sit well with supervisors.
After doing some research themselves, they found there was an error, and it was actually $500,000 a year for the first 10 years the solar plant is operational. Albeit a little concerned by the miscalculation, supervisors are still on board to see the project through.
Sanders said if the solar farm is assessed at $100 million, the true value of that is $93 million and if RES owned the land, the county could get $500,000 from property taxes.
Sanders told board members that he would “do his best” to figure up the numbers and bring them to the board for its first meeting in February in Vaiden.
